----* AlasPoorScrappy: [[spoiler:Gurgi sacrifices himself to destroy the Cauldron Born Army, but he is resurrected.]]* AnticlimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Despite all the build up the character had, the Horned King doesn't put up much of a fight before he is sucked into the cauldron: He lunges unarmed at Taran and grabs him, showing no display of powers or fighting abilities whatsoever, and is killed when Taran pushes him in the general direction of the cauldron.]]* CompleteMonster: The Horned King, a dark, terrifying, power-hungry [[OurLichesAreDifferent lich]] tyrant with a [[AGodAmI god complex]] and absolutely NoSenseOfHumor (a rare case for a Disney villain which makes him more creepy). He plans to obtain the powers of the eponymous Cauldron in order to raise [[NightOfTheLivingMooks an army of undead skeletons]] to rule the world and so destroy thousands of human lives. He stops at nothing to achieve his goal, even if it means kidnapping and/or killing an innocent girl or a harmless little pig, or [[BadBoss harvesting his own perfectly loyal men to make more skeletal warriors]]. When it seems the Cauldron might need another body he immediately decides to sacrifice his most sycophantic servant to it. He also has a bit of an ego to him since his motive behind conquering the world is forcing all of humanity to worship him as a god. Because the mindless Cauldron Born turn their enemies into more of themselves, he's planning to [[TheNecrocracy turn the world into a graveyard so he can be king of the dead]] if he can't be king of the living.* CounterpartComparison: With Link. Predating ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' by a year, Taran wears clothes and carries a sword strikingly similar to those of Link in his very early years. Plus looting dungeons, working well with animals, wielding a magic sword, having to stop a very old BigBad from getting an artifact of great power, and breaking lots of pots. Also, Eilonwy seems to be this to Zelda.** Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis seem to have taken inspiration from Gurgi's voice and mannerisms...* CultClassic: One of the few films in DisneyAnimatedCanon to earn this.* EnsembleDarkhorse: Despite its reputation, there are quite a few fans who consider the Horned King to be a genuinely terrifying villain; being voiced by John Hurt definitely helps. * GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: In France, it was the fifth greatest success of 1985.** And [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Japanese Love the Horned King]]: Popular enough to appear in several video games as the Final Boss and to be the center of the Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour at Tokyo Disneyland. Heck, if anything, he's a constant throw in for a possible Kingdom Hearts villain for what it's worth.* HilariousInHindsight: Most of the violence and death in the movie (both what was allowed to be shown and what was left on the cutting room floor) these days wouldn't be out of place on CartoonNetwork's ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''.** "I know! Let's make a movie about an evil cauldron that raises invincible undead armies, and can only be stopped by somebody committing suicide inside it! Do you think we'll have any trouble getting a G rating?"* MostAnnoyingSound: Gurgi's cutesy, high-pitched voice, as well as Taran's constant moaning in the first half of the film probably qualify as this. * NeverLiveItDown: The troubled production and ultimate box office failure of the film shook the Walt Disney Company so much that even after the successful revitalization of its animation department in the years that followed, they largely ignored it for the next decade or so and have released virtually no merchandise tied to it; not even of Princess Eilonwy who remains absent from the Disney Princess lineup. It eventually received a full VHS release and later a DVD release thanks to its respectably cult following, but remains one of its least-publicized pictures. * NightmareRetardant: The Horned King's theme music is frightening--until that theremin kicks in and makes the sound of a B-movie slide whistle.* OlderThanTheyThink: Everyone seems to think ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'''s Ariel started the trend of assertive Disney heroines -- see the RebelliousPrincess entry. But it started with Eilonwy here. Glen Keane, who later made Ariel, even designed her.** Same with Taran and three-dimensional Disney characters; he has a very flawed personality, but because of that, a very human one.* QualityByPopularVote: It could be argued that the film has suffered from this. Because it was unpopular in the theaters, it's been severely underrated. Although there is good reason it was unpopular in theaters. Many, if not all, characters in the movie are considered to be the [[{{Scrappy}} Scrappies]] of the Disney Universe, with Gurgi and Creeper being the most universal. It doesn't help that the plotting and pacing of the movie is ''quite'' inconsistent and it seems to lack a proper theme. ** [[EnsembleDarkhorse The Horned King]] being the exception* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Gurgi, [[spoiler:once he makes his HeroicSacrifice.]]* TheScrappy: Gurgi isn't quite as bad as most examples, but he has the makings of one: a [[SmallAnnoyingCreature small, nonhuman]] [[PluckyComicRelief comic relief character]] with a grating voice whom the filmmakers are desperate to prove is cuter and more charming than he is.** The Creeper may also qualify, given his tendency to break the mood during some of the Horned King's more genuinely frightening scenes. * {{Squick}}: Orwen's unsettling attraction to Fflewddur.* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The Horned King is held by some to be a genuinely terrifying Disney villain, yet sadly has little to show for this due to his surprisingly easy defeat at Taran's hands. * ToyShip: Eilonwy and Taran.* TrueNeutral: The three witches. They're more concerned with serving their own goals than getting involved in the war between good and evil happening just outside their swamp. It's possible that this is the very reason they were appointed to guard the Black Cauldron in the first place--they have no interest in using it, only having it, and it's apparently completely safe from the Horned King so long as it's theirs. The only nasty thing they do is transform people into frogs and [[ImAHumanitarian eat them]], but judging by their actions, it's possible they only do that to intruders.* UglyCute: Creeper.* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: ''Most definitely not''. Or at least not originally intended to be before the ExecutiveMeddling. Adverts [[MisaimedMarketing lured kids in with a light-hearted fantasy adventure of wonder and magic]]. The actual product is nothing like that. Still didn't stop it from getting a Universal - suitable for everyone rating in the UK though (it got a PG rating in the US). Yeah... you might wanna run that classification check through again guys.* TheWoobie: Gurgi, to some.** Also the Creeper, who is constantly at the mercy of his overlord. ----